Politics of Spectacle : The Royal Entry of James I (1604)

The royal entry developed in the Renaissance Europe was a vehicle for the glorification of monarchical imagery. The coronation entry of James I and the pageants were devised to create a mythology for the new monarchy. The triumphal arches with emblems and allegorical figures erected along the processional route were the symbol of the expected wise government of the virtuous king. The accompanying pageants embodied the moral arguments that the arches signified. The introductory part of this paper will make a brief survey of the development of the royal entry in Europe. The second part will examine the function of the triumphal arches and the accompanying pageants at the time of James I\u27s coronation. The focus of my examination here will be Ben Jonson\u27s contribution to this royal entry. The last part will be concluded with the analysis of the decline of processions and the subsequent flourishing of the court masque in James\u27s Court